SAN FRANCISCO, United States: A Dutch lawmaker's film that features disturbing images of terrorist acts superimposed over verses from the Quran and portrays Islam as a ticking time bomb aimed at Western democracy prompted denunciations from Muslim capitals and street protests in Pakistan, but a restrained reaction from Dutch Muslims who had expected worse.

The short film entitled "Fitna," an Arabic word meaning "ordeal," by anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders was posted on a British video-sharing website late Thursday.

Friday, the site LiveLeak.com removed the film, citing threats to its staff "of a very serious nature," but it has since been widely dispersed on file-sharing sites including globally popular YouTube.

YouTube, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, posted a warning that scenes from the video clips were potentially offensive and required users to confirm they are adults before allowing the clips to be viewed.

The Wilders film features violent imagery of terrorist attacks in New York and Madrid intertwined with Quranic texts.

Employing elements and symbols calculated to offend Muslims, Fitna draws on well-worn footage of terrorist attacks and anti-Western, anti-Jewish rhetoric that was meant to alarm the native Dutch.

The European Union said the film inflames hatred.

Slovenia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said Friday that it supports the Dutch government's position and believes the film does nothing to promote dialogue among religions.

"Mutual tolerance and respect are universal values we should uphold. We believe that acts, such as the film, serve no other purpose than inflaming hatred," it said in a statement.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the film calling it offensively anti-Islamic.